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Isotope analysis of human and faunal remains dated to the Later Stone Age reveals a substantial plant-based component to hunter-gatherer diets at the site of Taforalt, several millennia prior to the development of agriculture in the Levant, renewing the question of why agriculture did not develop contemporaneously in North Africa.

The palaeogenomic analysis of a pre-Neolithic skeleton associated with a Toalean burial context from Wallacea.

Researchers try to unpick the complex relationship between sensory pollutants and bird reproduction, and how to combat organised crime in fisheries.

Two studies demonstrate how brain-computer interfaces could help people to communicate, and working out how hot it can get before tropical leaves start to die.

G20 COVID stimulus packages fail to deliver on emissions, how knowing something about a stranger could alter your behaviour, and scientists condemn the invasion of Ukraine.

Researchers debate whether an ancient fossil is the oldest animal yet discovered, and a new way to eavesdrop on glaciers.

Removal of users shows the role social media companies could play in preventing misinformation sharing — plus how physicists coaxed ultracold molecules into an exotic quantum state.

Evidence of the first known neanderthal family group, and the latest from the Nature Briefing.

High-coverage and low-coverage genomic data for some of the earliest modern humans in Europe provide insights into recent admixture with Neanderthals and familial relationship links with distant communities approximately 45,000 years ago.

A decade of data shows how a few institutions train most US professors, and the latest from the Nature Briefing.

Speeding up comparisons of behavioural interventions, and what to expect from the James Webb Space Telescope.

The cross-discipline effort to work out how ancient humans learned to count.

Research suggests a combination of behaviours underlie the evolution of human cooperation, and researchers make an optical disc with enormous storage capacity.

The Scythian culture was widespread throughout the Eurasian Steppe during the 1^stmillennium BCE. This study provides genetic evidence for two independent origins for the Scythians in the eastern and western steppe with varying proportions of Yamnaya and East Asian ancestry, and gene flow among them.

Pastoralism spread through cultural diffusion into the Green Sahara, where an isolated, distinct North African ancestry persisted.

Analysis of snRNA genes in individuals with rare disorders identifies de novo and recurrent variants in RNU5B-1 and RNU5A-1, in addition to previously unreported cases with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in RNU4-2.

The Somatic Mosaicism across Human Tissues Network aims to create a reference catalogue of somatic mosaicism across different tissues and cells within individuals.

Genome-wide data from 400 individuals indicate that the initial spread of the Beaker archaeological complex between Iberia and central Europe was propelled by cultural diffusion, but that its spread into Britain involved a large-scale migration that permanently replaced about ninety per cent of the ancestry in the previously resident population.

Genome-wide ancient DNA data from individuals from the Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age documents large-scale movement of people from the European continent between 1300 and 800 bc that was probably responsible for spreading early Celtic languages to Britain.

Jackson et al. provide insight into how metabolic adaptations that accompany cell state transitions drive reliance on exogenous nutrient availability, focusing on pyruvate as a key metabolite in central carbon metabolism.

A historian reflects on the life of Chinese crop scientist Yuan Longping, and the possible influence of geothermal energy production on earthquake aftershocks.

Using multi-ancestry genome-wide association study and fine-mapping, 298 loci and 36 credible genes are identified in the aetiology of bipolar disorder.

A single species of electric eel, Electrophorus electricus, has been described. Here, de Santana et al. show that there are three major lineages of Electrophorus distributed across Greater Amazonia and describe two new species, one with a much stronger electric discharge than was previously known.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

A non-destructive DNA isolation method for the stepwise release of DNA trapped in ancient tooth and bone artefacts is developed.

Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are inherited metabolic disorders caused by enzyme deficiencies leading to glycosaminoglycan accumulation and systemic degenerative disease. Here, the authors show that iPSC-derived microglia progenitors can reduce glycosaminoglycan accumulation and prevent behavioral deficits in MPS mouse models.

Namibian Hai||om and Ovambo children aged 6 to 10 were generally risk averse. However, across both cultures and ages, boys were less risk averse than girls, especially in the presence of peers.

How the S2P family of intramembrane metalloproteases engage substrates has remained unclear. Here, the authors reveal cryo-EM structures showing beta-sheet augmentation as a key factor in substrate binding, linking this mechanism to all four classes of intramembrane proteases.

Neural mechanisms mediating information flow and processing in dendrites are not fully understood. Here the authors developed techniques to map bioelectrical excitations in the dendrites of neurons in acute slices of mouse brain tissue. They developed a holistic picture of the roles of dendritic excitations in spike back-propagation.

Analysis of population decline shows that frequent disturbances enhance a population’s capacity to resist and recover from downturns and that trade-offs exist when adopting new or alternative land-use strategies.

The integration of liver and plasma quantitative lipidomic and proteomic data from 107 distinct mouse strains provides important insights into regulators of mammalian lipid metabolism.

Lenardo and colleagues identify a new human genetic disease, GISELL, whereby ceramide lipid homeostasis is disrupted, thereby altering T cell longevity. Deficiency of GTPase of the immunity-associated protein 5 (GIMAP5) in patients leads to cellular senescence, immunodeficiency and early mortality.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is an anti-inflammatory drug proposed as a treatment for COVID19. Here the results are reported from a randomised trial testing DMF treatment in 713 patients hospitalised with COVID-19. DMF was not associated with any improvement in day 5 outcomes.

Analysis of 273 ancient horse genomes reveals that modern domestic horses originated in the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region.

A genome-wide association study in ~3 million individuals identifies 3,952 independent variants associated with educational attainment. A polygenic index explains 12–16% of variance for this trait and contributes to risk prediction for ten diseases.

A set of three papers in Nature reports a new proteomics resource from the UK Biobank and initial analysis of common and rare genetic variant associations with plasma protein levels.

Schizophrenia research has traditionally overlooked sex differences. Here, the authors show the importance of sex-based analysis across multi-brain regions by identifying sex-specific genes and genetic interactions in schizophrenia and sex-specific risk.

Study of human heart failure is limited by access to human tissue. Here, the authors apply multi-omic screening in human ischaemic and dilated myocardial tissue and matched controls to determine molecular changes common and unique to each aetiology and to reveal differences between male and female hearts.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

Elizabeth Holliday and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for ischemic stroke. They identify common variants at 6p21.1 associated with large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), a major subtype of ischemic stroke.